When in Romans
Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/09/2017
9:00 am - 1:45 pm
Location
First Presbyterian Church
Categories
When in Romans
Eleventh Jean and Patrick Henry Seminar
Saturday, September 9, 9:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church, Dallas
Beverly Gaventa, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Baylor University, Waco, TX
Paul’s letter to the Romans is among the most important documents of Christian intellectual history, but that does not make it easy to understand. Many readers find themselves entangled in Paul’s logic and confused by his abstractions. Spending time “in” Romans, this seminar will introduce Romans as a real letter, paying attention to Paul’s audience and their situation. Then it will look at the large landscape of the letter: what is this new “salvation” Paul writes about, and why is it needed? How is that new “salvation” related to the story of Abraham and to Israel’s future? And how does that new “salvation” make a difference for the way Christians today live amid the radical differences of the 21st century? We will find that Romans is far richer, more challenging, and more hopeful than we have imagined.
Beverly Gaventa is Distinguished Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Baylor University, as well as Helen H.P. Manson Professor Emerita of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary. She has written on a variety of New Testament texts and issues, and she has contributed both scholarly studies and resources for pastors and lay people. Her most recent book is When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel according to Paul, published by Baker Press in 2016. In 2016 Dr. Gaventa was president of the Society of Biblical Literature, the largest professional organization of biblical scholars in the world. She has lectured widely in the U.S. as well as in Canada, Europe, South Africa, and Australia. Dr. Gaventa is a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Waco, Texas.
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